Is Iran about to put a spy in the sky? The Israeli Debka.com Web site, which maintains a wide circle of sources within Israeli intelligence, has claimed that Tehran may soon launch its own surveillance satellite.
Iran has converted one of its most powerful ballistic missiles into a satellite launch vehicle. The 30-ton rocket could also be a wolf in sheep's clothing for testing longer-range missile strike technologies.
The first high-quality images from the Israeli Eros B spy satellite designed to track Iran's nuclear program arrived at a ground station over the weekend. Sample photographs from the satellite were officially distributed in an apparent attempt to convince Iran that Israel had the technical capacity to monitor their nuclear program.
Israel has launched a satellite that officials say will enhance its ability to spy on Iran's nuclear programme. The satellite, reportedly capable of taking clear photographs of objects on the ground as small as 70cm (2ft), was sent into space from eastern Russia.
To some government analysts and other experts in the West, Iran's space debut is potentially worrisome. While world attention has focused on whether Iran is clandestinely seeking nuclear arms, these analysts say the launchings mark a new stage in its growing efforts to master a range of sophisticated technologies, including rockets and satellites. The concern is that Tehran could one day turn such advances to atomic ends.
ISRAEL’S armed forces have been ordered by Ariel Sharon, the prime minister, to be ready by the end of March for possible strikes on secret uranium enrichment sites in Iran, military sources have revealed. Among Israeli concerns is that Iran's developing space program could give them an early-warning capacity that will prevent future pre-emptive strikes.
Iran wants to master space technology as soon as possible, amid fears the West will seek to impose restrictions on its satellite program like those placed on its nuclear plans, according to an Iranian official.
Iran said a recently launched satellite would be purely scientific. But a month after its launch -- and only weeks after the president said Israel should be wiped off the map -- the head of Tehran's space program now says the Sina-1 is capable of spying on the Jewish state.
Iran launched its first satellite into space from Plesetsk in northern Russia, joining a select club of countries. A joint project between Iran and Russia, the Sina-1 satellite will be used to take pictures of Iran and to monitor natural disasters.
In advance of the presidential elections, Iran appears to be actively jamming satellite television signals. Experts are concerned that the jamming could threaten not only the possibility of democracy but also the health of Iranian citizens.